Strictly Dishonorable
by Cmdr's Monkey
Summary: Prompt response to What if?. What if Gibbs and the crew had failed to get the swords to Barbossa and Elizabeth as they confront Sao Feng in his bathhouse? Barbossabeth. Hector Barbossa and Elizabeth Swann.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Own nothin...**

**A/N: My second attempt at a Barbossabeth and nothing like my first... its all Barbossabeth! This was also in response to the "What if?" prompt on the LJ barbossabeth community. This was suppose to be a one shot but it took on a life of its own and now has four parts and counting... **

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**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part One**

"So... you believe you have deceived me?" the notorious Malaysian pirate lord irritably said before drawing his sword and shouting; "Weapons!" The deceiver had quickly taken several steps back and joined his companion's side, glancing around the bathhouse uncertainly at the quick response of the Malaysian pirates in the Singaporean bathhouse.

"I assure ye Sao Feng that my intentions are strictly honorable!" he said, trying to sound as desperate as any man suddenly surrounded by armed and dangerous men while unarmed himself would sound like; which was no hard feat to accomplish considering that he was surrounded and unarmed.

And a second later, still unarmed.

"Strictly honorable..." he repeated, the fake desperation quickly turning into real desperation and slight panic.

He was _still_ unarmed.

_Gibbs ye fool! Where are ye with those swords?_ He exchanged a worried glance with his companion, Elizabeth Swann, and saw his own concern mirrored in her expression.

"Forgive me for failing to believe you, Captain Barbossa." Sao Feng slowly and deliberately approached the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea and his companion wench. "Considering that you have come here to steal my charts and in doing so, dishonor my hospitality, I can no longer believe a word you say." He stood before the Caribbean pirate, the tip of his blade held just before his face threateningly. Barbossa held his hands up, palms upwards in a gesture that he was not going to try and fight. "But... since you are a Pirate Lord yourself and that the Court is gathering, I will spare your life long enough for you to attend."

"Then we'll be on our way..." Barbossa began to say but was cut off by Sao Feng.

"No. I said I would let you attend. I did not say you could leave."

"What about Will and myself?" Elizabeth asked tentatively and glanced in her fiancés direction. He was worried for her and she could see that he was trying to think of a way to get out of this situation they were in. But if Barbossa couldn't think of one, she doubted that Will would be able to. They were suppose to be well armed and negotiating a way out of here at sword point. But they weren't because somehow for some reason Gibbs and the others had failed to make their way into the bathhouse's dungeon and toss them their weapons through the floorboards beneath them.

"What about him?" Sao Feng rhetorically asked and glanced to the young man who tried to steal the charts. He let his gaze drift to one of the men standing next to Will and nodded subtly. Will Turner made no sound as a large wooden dagger was thrust into him. The two that was holding him up, let him sink back into the hot tub.

"No!" Elizabeth lunged for her fiancé but Barbossa grabbed a hold of her around the waist with both of his arms. She struggled against his grip as she cried out Will's name over and over again. The pirate captain held onto her, tightening his embrace around her arms more out of reassuring her rather than trying to keep a hold of her. He knew he would not have any problems in that department, but it would be so much easier if she just stopped struggling.

"Get a hold of yer self, missy," he hissed in her ear. "Lest ye wish to join him, wait and bide yer time to avenge him." She seemed to settle in his arms and her hysterical cries were quickly swallowed and replaced with a stony silence and glaring passionately at the pirate that ordered Will's death.

"As for you, Miss Swann," Sao Feng continued. Barbossa noticed that Sao Feng had allowed him to try and control her and wonders what the pirate has in mind for the young lass. He would have to try to negotiate her safety somehow. Without weapons or any thing to really bargain with, he realized he was not in that strong of a position to talk their way out safely. But, he was not a pirate for doing nothing by standing their sulking at how crappy of a hand fate had just dealt him.

So before Sao Feng could inform them of his intentions for Elizabeth he interrupted quickly with, "Parlay?"

"What?" Sao Feng said in surprise and Elizabeth glanced up at him questioningly, wondering what he was doing.

"Accordin' to the Code, any pirate may invoke the right to parlay and any pirate that has done so shall not be harmed until the parlay has ended with both parties having agreed."

"I know what the Code says," Sao Feng replied irritably. "But why should I grant you parlay?"

"You would dishonor the Code then?" He had not hoped for it, and accepted it anyway, but there was no mistaking the murmurs and whispers among the other pirates. If Sao Feng wished to refuse them parlay, he would be seen as a Pirate Lord who failed to uphold what was law for him. Barbossa filed this bit of information away for later use in his negotiations.

"Of course not!" he snapped and then sheathed his sword. He gestured for the others to follow suit with their weapons. "Though I do not see how you can negotiate yourself out of this when you have nothing to negotiate on."

Barbossa wolfishly grinned at Sao Feng and released his grip on Elizabeth, she stepped to his side and slightly behind him and as she did so, Barbossa felt a hand press against the small of his back. He did not allow what she was doing back there to distract him from thinking. He only hoped that what she had in mind could wait until after he had finished making a deal with the Malaysian pirate.

"Ah but that is where ye are wrong, Sao Feng," Barbossa replied, taking a sure step forward. "Ye said yerself that the only reason ye would have Jack fetched back from the Land of the Dead is so that ye can send him there yerself."

"So you think that I will let you fetch him back?" Sao Feng snorted in contempt at the absurdity of Barbossa's line of thought. "I have the charts and I can easily bring him back myself."

"Aye, ye could go there. But ye wouldn't be able to convince him to come back." Here Barbossa smiled like a predator who knows he has cornered his prey. "Now can ye?" Sao Feng remained silent as he considered the pirate captain's words. He turned away and walked back toward his throne.

Turning, he said; "And you can convince him? You who mutinied against him, you who stole his ship and marooned him?"

"I can be quite persuasive when I need be."

"And the girl?"

"He'll listen to me if he doesn't listen to the Captain," Elizabeth put in from behind Barbossa who glanced over his shoulder a little annoyed that she interrupted the negotiations. He noticed how close she was to him and felt her hand rest on his arm before sliding down the length of it and into his own hand. He had expected her hand to feel warm and moist from the heat of the bathhouse, but instead he felt something cold and metallic slip into the palm of his hand.

_Me dagger? So that is what she was doin' back there. Good girl. _Though how she knew about the dagger hidden in the back of his belt, he did not know but planned to find out. He looked at her questioningly and she looked back at him expectantly and understood what she wanted. He tried to impress to her that she still had to wait. _Ye know the rules of parlay, missy._ He wished he could tell her, but he settled for trying to take the dagger from her without letting the others know they had a weapon. But she was not willing to part with it quite yet. Quietly sighing he let her keep it for the time being.

Returning his attention back to Sao Feng, Barbossa continued to press the pirate lord in accepting the idea of rescuing Jack. "Give us the charts, a ship and crew and let us go fetch back Jack and once the gathering of the Brethren Court is over, ye can have the scoundrel and do with him as ye like."

"I will keep the charts and you and Miss Swann can accompany me in retrieving Jack Sparrow," Sao Feng countered and met Barbossa's serious gaze with his own. "You will convince him to return to the world of the living and once the gathering is over, I will keep both you and Jack Sparrow as well as the lovely Miss Swann."

"You can keep Jack Sparrow and _The Black Pearl_ and Captain Barbossa and I will be allowed to go free and unharmed." Barbossa turned on Elizabeth then, furious.

"_The Pearl_ is not yer's to negotiate away, missy," he hotly said.

"Nor is it yours or anyone else's for that matter, Captain. Which makes it fair game," she replied snootily before glancing at Sao Feng. "What say you to that Captain Sao Feng? Take Jack and _The Black Pearl_ and let us go?"

"Your woman drives a hard bargain, Captain Barbossa." Sao Feng fell silent in thought as he considered the words being said in the negotiations. Barbossa had felt Elizabeth bristle at the captain's choice of words but placed a warning hand on her arm. "I will keep the charts, you and Miss Swann will accompany me to retrieve Jack Sparrow, you will convince him to return with us and after the gathering of the Brethren Court is over I will keep Jack Sparrow and_The Black Pearl_. Agreed?"

Hector Barbossa narrowed his eyes, noticing a lack of words in the terms. "Disagree."

"What else do you think you can get away with, Captain Barbossa?"

"I and Miss Swann will be allowed to attend the Brethren Court and afterwards we are to be set free, alive and unharmed and with a ship."

"Agreed, but no ship."

It was worth a try at least. "Agreed." He could feel Elizabeth tense next to him and made sure to step between her and Sao Feng. It would not do them any good if she tried to kill the Malaysian so soon after negotiations.

"I am curious though," he said, glancing around the room again at all the pirates. He noticed for the first time since they had put their weapons away that they had not moved from their places. Instead it seemed like they had gotten closer to them while the parlay was going on. It made Barbossa uneasy and he wished he had a weapon other than the small dagger that which Elizabeth held. "How did ye come to the conclusion that I was deceiving ye?"

Sao Feng smiled at this and drew his sword. "We are in a bathhouse, Captain," he began and then brought the weapon around to press against the neck of a pirate hunched nearby. "The fake tattoos on your man began to run in the heat."

"My man?" Barbossa stared in confusion at the Malaysian who stared back in utter fear at having his throat slit. "He's not ours."

"If he's not with us and he's not with you, then who is he with?" Elizabeth said and almost immediately regretted saying it for the walls around them imploded with blue-coated marines and gun-fire...


	2. Chapter 2

**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Two**

"Sao Feng, surely this is not necessary," Barbossa protested as he and Elizabeth were shoved into the brig of the _Hai Peng_. They had all just recently escaped an ambush laid out by the East India Trading Company and were now sailing out into the South China Sea to put distance between themselves and those that wish to put an end to their profession. Neither he nor Elizabeth had seen any sign of the crew or even Tia Dalma for that matter. The only crewmember they had encountered was Jack and even he did not stay with them for long. As soon as it became apparent that his master was going to be imprisoned, the little monkey had scampered off and hid himself somewhere on board the junk.

"It is quite necessary, Captain Barbossa," Sao Feng replied from the other side of the bars. Barbossa was helping Elizabeth to her feet after she had tripped over a floorboard sticking out slightly. He glanced up at the Malaysian pirate lord. "Let me just say that I do not trust you."

Barbossa gave a half-hearted smile at that and watched the Pirate Lord walk away with the two pirates that had dragged them down here. His attention was drawn away from them by Elizabeth's exclamation; "There's water everywhere!" The pirate captain glanced down at his feet and noted the thin layer of water washing against his boots like the tide against a shore. Wishing to stay dry he took a look around at their accommodations and found that they really had no way of keeping out of the water.

""It's not like we're goin' to be down here forever. A little bit of water ain't gonna do ye any harm, missy," he said at last, unhappy that he was going to be miserable. She gave an indigent huff as he walked over to a corner of the cell that had the least amount of water (which was nigh impossible) and tried to make him self as comfortable as possible.

His expression must have been on his face for she replied saucily; "It is just a little bit of water, Captain; it won't hurt you." He gave her a cheeky grin in reply and folded his arms across his chest, letting his chin drop as he tried to pass the time by sleeping. Seeing that he was not going to provide any further discussion, Elizabeth found herself a corner of the cell to sit in and folded her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her chin on the knees. She stared out of the cell at nothing in particular for several long minutes before her gaze finally began to wander. Eventually it drifted towards Barbossa who now had his ridiculous wide-brimmed and feathered hat pulled over his eyes.

It irked her that he was sleeping at a time like this. He was suppose to be this experienced pirate captain, far more experienced than she was in pirate ways such as escaping prisons and taking over ships, so why was he sitting there taking a cat nap? And for that matter why did he stop her from killing Sao Feng when she had the opportunity to do so. This much she asked of him and it took him a moment to lift his head up and push back his hat to look at her.

"Because, Sao Feng still has his uses," he answered her like she should have known the answer and he was right, she should have known. "One we need him to get Jack back..."

"We don't need him for that, we just need the charts and a ship."

"Aye, that be true however Sao Feng is also a Pirate Lord and all nine Lords must be gathered at the Brethren Court if we are to hope to do anything about stopping Beckett." He noticed she did not answer right away to that particular fact and wondered what was going through her mind. He soon found out and did not like her response.

"Stopping Beckett no longer appeals to me anymore without Will," she answered quietly and rested her head against her folded arms, staring blankly at Barbossa. "Nothing in it for me anymore."

"Now we'll have none of that, missy," Barbossa said sharply to her and stood up from his place on the wet floor. He strode over to her and loomed over her like a black shadow, forcing her to look up at him with a slight scowl. "Ye are a pirate and Beckett won't rest until every last one of us be hangin' from the gallows. He has no qualms as to whether we're men, women or children so don't be thinkin' that Beckett will leave ye alone 'cause yer pirate lover be dead."

"How dare you!" Elizabeth abruptly stood up so she could be face to face with him. She was just barely as tall as him, but at least she did not have to look up to glower at him like she had to do with Will. Thinking about Will slightly curbed her anger at Barbossa's callousness and the grief she had been holding in since his death threatened to overwhelm her. But she clenched her jaw and spoke in as cold of a voice as she could muster without letting that grief seeping in; "Will was the reason why I threatened Beckett! Will was the reason why I went after Jack and Davy Jones' heart! Will was the reason why I agreed to help fight Beckett!"

"An' Beckett be the man who be the cause of his death." Barbossa grabbed her by the arms when she began to spin away from him. He held her in place, his face just inches from hers and his breath causing strands of her hair to float outward. "Aye, Sao Feng may have given the order and another may have done the deed, but it be Beckett who set all those events into motion! Ye said yer self that if it had not been for Beckett, ye and the lad would be happily married and livin' on Port Royale. Grieve for him all ye like but don't be forgettin' who be responsible for his death."

He could see that he had gotten through to her, the anger that had been there in her amber eyes was gone now; in its place was the grief she had been hiding. "The lad would want ye to stop Beckett, Elizabeth." When he had originally intended to convince her not to give up by intimidating and lecturing her, he had not expected her to give in to her grief and hang on to him as she stained his jacket with her tears. He realized speaking her name must have snapped something inside her and what he had said was what she had wanted to hear.

Barbossa awkwardly wrapped his arms around her trembling form and guided her back down to the floor, letting her cling to him as she let go of the dam that held back her emotions. He sat there with her in his arms, unsure as to what to do with her. He had held many women in his life but never once had they ever used him to cry upon. He knew he had to console her somehow, to get her to stop staining his jacket, though he could easily just shove her away but knew that would only cause more harm than any good (except maybe his jacket wouldn't be ruined); but was unsure how to do that.

Eventually he settled upon repeating that it would be alright and promising her he'd help her get her revenge. It seemed to work because as the minutes ticked by, her shuttering shoulders and somber sounds began to gradually subside until she was both silent and still in his arms. He did not realize that she had stopped until he looked down and saw that she had fallen asleep in his embrace.

Now he was faced with a second dilemma.

"Great."


	3. Chapter 3

**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Three**

By the time Elizabeth awoke, the night had passed and he was able to get a few hours of sleep despite the fact that he was sitting in a rather uncomfortable position with a young woman in his lap, and lets not forget about the water soaking his breeches and coat all the way through either. He had slept in worse places and in the most awkward positions before, but it did not mean he liked doing it or sought them out. And most of the time when he had a woman in his lap they were usually half-naked or completely and so was he. They were also usually in a warm bed in some bawdy tavern on Tortuga or some other pirate haven.

Barbossa hadn't known what to do with Elizabeth when she fell asleep in his arms. He had wanted to move her off of him but it would have awoken her and then he would have had to deal with her accusations of being anything but decent. So he had left her there and he had endured the discomfort and felt his buttocks grow cold and numb from staying in one spot and in the cold seawater for far too long.

But perhaps he should have pushed her off of him when he had the chance.

"Mornin'," he said to her when she finally awoke, his voice was gruff and unused and his throat and mouth felt dry. "Sleep well?"

"Will?" he heard her murmur in a half-dazed and half-awake state of awareness that one was accustomed to be in after just coming out of a dreamscape of sleep. He was not too pleased that she had mistaken him for her dead lover; but he let it slide because of the fact that he was recently deceased. Barbossa watched her as she yawned and began to uncurl in his lap and tensed when she brushed too close to more sensitive parts of his anatomy. She must have thought it unusual for him, who she thought was William Turner, to tense up and so snapped her eyes open and rubbed the blurry sleepiness from them to look at him more clearly.

"Barbossa!" Elizabeth exclaimed and sprang from his lap as soon as she realized whom she had been curled up with.

"Yer welcome that I kept ye dry all night long," he sarcastically offered and tried to straighten his wrinkled attire. The effort was a mistake for she quickly began to accuse him of what he had originally feared of her doing had he attempted to awaken her last night. "Now we'll be having none of that, Miss Swann. I was a perfect gentleman with ye and allowed _my_ clothes get all soaked so ye could sleep peacefully. I wouldn't have done said gentlemanly thing if ye hadn't fallen asleep in me arms." Which, of course, were complete and utter bullocks. He had no intentions of being a gentleman with her; it was not in his nature to do so.

Barbossa stood up from his place on the floor and just stared at her expectantly. An amused grin replaced his annoyed frown as he watched her gape at him in astonishment at what he had said. Although he had not wanted to be dealing with her assumptions about his behavior towards her by letting her stay in his lap, he did have to admit that he had enjoyed her there in more ways than just warmth. He must have allowed that lecherous thought to escape onto his face because she then scowled at him and turned her back to him.

"Yer an ungrateful brat, ye know that?"

"And you are a lecherous old pirate," she answered back snappishly.

"Ah now ye've gone an' broke me heart, missy." He feigned being heartbroken by laying a hand over his chest where said organ resided inside. "That be the last gentlemanly thing I do for ye, Miss Swann. Next time I may have ye take yer cloths off before I let ye share me body's warmth."

She gave him a look that challenged him to try it and he gave her another lecherous smile. If she had planned on saying anything else it was lost with the sounds of someone coming down into the hold. A black shadow approached their cell and in what little lantern light there was, they could see it was one of Sao Feng's men with their morning gruel.

"Breakfast? Tell yer master he's too kind," Barbossa said and accepted the bowl of grey slop. Elizabeth tentatively accepted her bowl and stared down at its contents in disgust before looking up at the Malaysian sailor.

"Why is Sao Feng keeping us down here?" she asked him and the sailor just looked at her quizzically as if he couldn't understand her. "You do speak English don't you?" She received her answer when he said something in his language at her before walking away. She turned around to find Barbossa eating his meal without complaint and wondered how he could swallow it. It looked and smelled both disgusting and unappealing.

As if she had spoken out loud her curiosity, he answered; "When ye've gone ten years without food, even the most foul smellin' meal would look good to ye."

"Don't you even question what's in it?"

"Nope. Might not eat it then if I knew."

"I don't think I could after looking at it."

Barbossa chuckled and took another spoonful of it. "It's rice porridge, actually tastes fine. Though it could use some apple and cinnamon spices. Ain't going to kill ye, Elizabeth," he added when she held it out from her and put it down on the cell floor.

"You don't know that. It could be poisoned."

"Poisoned?" He raised an eyebrow at her quizzically and suspiciously looked down at his porridge. Before she could patronize him, his bowl dropped to the floor with a clatter and he clutched at his throat, choking.

Elizabeth stared at him in horror. "Captain!" she exclaimed as he fell over onto his side. She rushed to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, rolling him onto his back. He was staring up at the rafters' overhead, his tongue-hanging limp out of his mouth and he wasn't breathing. "God no, you can't die again! Please don't leave me here alone with these pirates!"

"Give me a kiss an' I won't, missy."

"What?" If she could look even more horrified than before, the expression her face now had certainly did. Before her, Barbossa rose up from the dead once more and propped him self up onto an elbow as he heartily laughed at her horrified look which quickly turned to anger. She punched him in the shoulder as hard as she could and quickly stood up now that it was apparent he had been feigning being poisoned. "Hector Barbossa, don't you ever do that again."

"Lighten up, girl. Told ye it wouldn't kill ye," he replied and sat up straight, rubbing his bruised shoulder. He grabbed his breakfast again and began to eat once more. "Though I have to say, I am touched ye are a bit concerned for me."

"Hardly." He noticed she had picked up her bowl and now sat down near him, picking at it.

"Just eat it. If anything, ye will be needing to keep up yer strength." She seemed to consider it for a few seconds before she finally gave in and took a spoonful of the porridge. He smiled when she began to eat it more heartily. "Told ye it tasted fine." They ate in silence and Barbossa caught her a few times watching him eat.

"Not exactly a grand meal like you gave me, now is it?" she tried to start a conversation.

"Nay. I not be the captain of this ship, unfortunately."

"Well... at least this time you're not watching me eat."

"Who says I'm not?" he grinned at her.

"Are you?"

"I am now."

"It seems, Captain, that you can't resist watching me eat and this time you do not have your usual excuse for doing so." He chuckled at her before finishing the last of his breakfast. As he did so, she continued; "You weren't watching me eat back then were you?"

"An' what do ye think I was watchin'?" he asked her.

"Me."

"Don't flatter yerself. Of course I was watchin' ye eat, t'was the only way I could take pleasure in food anymore."

"Then what are you watching now?" she asked.

"You," he answered.

She stared.

He stared back.

"Ye goin' to finish that?" he pointed at her bowl with his wooden spoon, breaking the silence and the tension that formed between them before it led somewhere they both would have either regretted or not. She pulled her eyes away from him and stared down at her bowl before handing it to him. He eagerly dug into the remains of her porridge. After several more minutes of silence and the last of the porridge completely gone, Elizabeth spoke up once more.

"Captain," she started.

"Hmm?" he looked up at her after casting aside the bowl and spoon.

"What will Sao Feng do to us once this is over?" Barbossa studied her as she asked him that. She was obviously very concerned about her future, but he was perplexed that she even considered his.

"Kill us probably," he answered and moved over to one of the walls so he could lean up against something. "Or just me."

"What do you mean just you?"

"Ye are a pretty little thing, Miss Swann. I've seen how he looks at ye." He did not need to finish the sentence for he could tell that she understood where he was going with it. "Aye, I was going to do something similar had yer blood worked."

"Use me to satisfy your lust?"

"Well there was that, aye," he admitted with a nod. "But I did plan on makin' ye me bride first once ye were willin'." He had silenced her with those words. He suspected she had not realized what he had planned for her over a year ago or perhaps she had fantasized the idea and had not realized he had intended for it to come true. Either reason, he had silenced her and caused her to turn her attention to a wood grain in a floorboard before her.

After several seconds of silence between them, "Do you still?" she asked him.

"Still what?" he looked up at her.

"Want to marry me?"

"Marry ye?" he grinned. "Now I didn't say I'd make ye me wife, missy."

"Then what else would a bride be?"

"A bride."

"Oh." She moved over to sit next to him with a few inches of space separating them from each other. "You're a terrible liar, you realize that?"

"Or perhaps I chose to let ye see the lie?"

"So you _do_ want to marry me," she persisted and he turned away from her. "Admit it, Hector Barbossa, you were taken by a governor's daughter that night you raided Port Royale."

"Nay, if I recall correctly, it was I who took ye." She slapped him on the arm and before she could retract it, his other hand reached over and grabbed her by the wrist. "It not be wise to hit a pirate, missy."

"You wouldn't hurt me," she replied confidently and pulled her hand free of his. "I trust you."

"Ye shouldn't," he warned.

"Why?"

"'Cause I be a pirate, that's why." Barbossa raised himself to his feet again and stepped away from her, his feet splashing in the thin layer of water and leaving tiny ripples in his wake. "If ye have any common sense in ye, lass, ye best not to trust anyone who calls themselves a pirate."

"I'm not daft, Captain. I realize that you would betray me if you thought you could gain something from it." Elizabeth stood and followed after him, standing just behind him and looking around at him. "I trust you more than I would trust Sao Feng."

"I would think ye daft if ye did trust him more." Barbossa side-glanced at her and watched her watching him. "But as ye've proven time and again, ye ain't daft."

"What was it that attracts you to me, Captain? Surely I'm too young for you." She changed the subject and stood in front of him again, her hands rested on both of his arms near the shoulders and he glanced at them briefly. The discomfort of her nearness must have shown on his face for she gave him a sly smile.

"Shouldn't it be I'm too old for ye?" he countered, uncertain as to where this was going.

"How old are you?"

"Old enough for ye to start respectin' me, bein' that I be yer elder and all." She drew closer to him so that their faces were just inches apart. He wondered what game she was playing at by being this coy minx.

"You don't look old," she stated, her fingers playing with the ends of his curled beard. He found that he liked what she was doing but knew he had to put a stop to this soon.

Barbossa rolled his eyes at her. "Course not. Been stuck in limbo for ten years an' dead for another year." He'd stop her as soon as she stopped tracing his jaw with her fingers.

"Well, how old are you then?" she insisted. She had drawn close enough to him now that their lips almost met.

"Shouldn't ye be mourning your lad?" he threw at her in an attempt to get her to stop asking him such personal questions and to keep her from making a mistake despite how much he would have liked kissing her. He immediately regretted saying it upon seeing her face twist in pained memory and that he brushed her off so cruelly. She turned away from him and stalked back to her side of the cell. He watched her sink down to the floor and curl up, hiding her face in her arms and knees.

Barbossa made a disgruntled noise and sat down next to her. Although she did not look up at him and acknowledge his presence, he watched her and listened while she quietly mourned her lost fiancé. He knew what he had said was heartless of him, but he had wanted her to stop flirting with him before he took her seriously and things went from a simple enticing kiss to something more primal and heated, to something that she would regret and hate him for. Even he knew not to cross that line so soon after a man she loved had recently been killed.

"Fifty-six," he finally answered her with a sigh. Her shoulders stopped moving upon hearing his voice and she quizzically looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. "I be fifty-six years since the 6th of July, 1666 an' no I be not the devil despite me reputation of being a black-hearted fiend." He gave her a black-toothed grin and was pleased to see a slight smile form on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Lets see if anyone can spot the easter egg I put in here... heh. I will be highly disappointed if someone doesn't recognize it even AFTER I pointed out that there is one! **

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**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Four**

Over the next several days they discussed on how to escape should Sao Feng not keep to his word in the end. Elizabeth was all for escaping now and taking over the ship and marooning most of the crew save those they needed to sail the vessel to World's End and back. The only reason Barbossa did not encourage it was once again that they needed Sao Feng for reasons other than to fetch back the wily Jack. Elizabeth relented to his reasoning for the time being, but he suspected that if she were to be given the opportune moment, she would not hesitate in removing the Pirate Lord.

Sao Feng had come to visit them occasionally, mostly to complain about Barbossa's monkey stealing from the food storage and causing havoc wherever it could on board. Barbossa had merely smiled that his Jack was causing the Pirate Lord a headache. Sao Feng had even come to demand that Barbossa do something about him and threatened to have his two accompanying men keelhaul him if he didn't. But the Caribbean pirate merely replied; "It is not part of our agreement so I must do nothing. If ye can't handle me monkey, then it makes me wonder which of ye is the smarter beast?"

Sao Feng's guards had glanced at each other then before looking at their Captain for orders. Barbossa had almost believed that Sao Feng would carry out his threat and was both pleased and relieved that he hadn't. When Sao Feng left in an indignant manner, Barbossa's laughter had followed after him.

After that embarrassment, they had not seen Sao Feng again. They only heard from him through Tai Haung, his first mate. From then on the days were filled with more complaints about the monkey and the occasional reappearance of said monkey in the middle of the night, peering over Barbossa's face as they slept. Two nights ago he discovered Jack doing this when he couldn't get any sleep at all. While Elizabeth pinned one of his arms as she slept next to him, he paid attention to the clever little beast and praised him.

"That be me boy," he had said to him. "Keep up the good work an' don't get caught. Aye?" Jack had chirped at him and cuddled into his stroking hand. When Barbossa woke in the morning, the monkey had gone to cause mayhem somewhere on the ship again. Barbossa had wished the little animal hadn't left him. He could have used another's company other than Elizabeth's, especially these last few days. She had been cold towards him ever since he had cruelly brushed her off. He would rather prefer her flirtatious mood to her current one.

But, unlike Elizabeth, Jack could not provide a two-sided conversation and it was the only reason he didn't snap at Elizabeth when they started repeating parts of conversations they had discussed long before they had fouled up back at Singapore.

"How does one become a Pirate Lord?" Elizabeth asked over the latest evening supper, which was rice porridge once more, after discussing again why it was so important that all nine had to be gathered. Barbossa took a mouthful before looking up at her thoughtfully. This time the conversation was taking a different turn then the usual repetition.

"Ye establish yerself as the dominant pirate captain in whatever region yer in." He cast aside his empty bowl and ate the last of the porridge that was on his spoon before continuing. "Or it is passed down to ye from an already existing Pirate Lord."

"Can there be more than nine at one time?"

"Aye, but rarely are there more than nine at any given time." Barbossa leaned back against the bars of the cell and folded his arms across his chest as he watched Elizabeth finish her meal. "Though during those times that there were, they usually be retired Pirate Lords who were allowed to retain the title much like a Navy Admiral is allowed to keep his rank when he retires from service."

"Has there ever been more than nine _active_ Pirate Lords?" Elizabeth set her bowl aside and joined him at his side, something he discovered she's been frequently doing since two nights ago and he wondered if she had finally forgiven him for his brusqueness. Barbossa did not complain. There was no way he would complain about staying somewhat warm while sleeping in cold seawater.

"I'm told there had been ten gathered at the Third Court, which we all know ended rather abruptly an' badly."

"How did you become a Pirate Lord?" He hesitated in answering her, knowing that what he said could cause her to think they could get out of their deal with Sao Feng. Yes, it had that potential but it also ran the risk of one of them dying, if not both of them, should they try it. "Well?"

"I... erm," he stuttered and scratched at his beard as he considered what to say. "Me predecessor was One-Eyed Willie..."

"I know him. He is the pirate captain with the jeweled eye-patch. He had a haven somewhere along the west coast of the Americas, didn't he?" Elizabeth interrupted, intrigued by the idea that the pirate had been one of the Pirate Lords.

"Aye, he _did_. Became his grave, unfortunately."

"Oh?"

"Willie was chased to his haven after several months of tryin' to elude his pursuers. He couldn't outrun his hunter an' so had decided to make a last stand inside his booby-trapped cavern an' tunnels." The captain closed his eyes and smiled in remembrance before opening them and catching Elizabeth watching him again. "He an' his crew fought valiantly but in the end they all died, save fer him. The man who had chased him across two oceans had allowed him to live long enough to die of starvation, trapped in his own cavern, enjoyin' a wealth that he could not spend."

"But... that doesn't make any sense. The Royal Navy never caught up with him."

"Who said it were them who was chasin' Willie?"

"It was you?" She did not sound so astonished and he would not have put it past her to have figured it out on her own. He wasn't exactly being subtle about how he knew the real fate of One-Eyed Willie. "You can kill a Pirate Lord and claim his title?"

"Nay. Ye can kill a Pirate Lord but unless ye know what his piece of eight is, all ye've done is murder a Pirate Lord." Hopefully that would keep her from trying to kill Sao Feng. He did not know what the Malaysian's piece of eight was and doubted that Elizabeth would know either. He also doubted that Sao Feng would reveal it to either of them.

"How did you know what his piece of eight was?"

"Erm..."_Damn._ "I asked." She looked at him incredulously. He gave her his black-toothed grin in reply that pretty much said for her to try and challenge him on it. If he had expected her to leave it at that, he was sorely disappointed.

"You_asked_?" she skeptically repeated and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly and hoping he would elaborate.

"I... well I didn't exactly _ask_ him," he tried to answer without really answering her. She continued to look at him, asking him to continue to elaborate on what he meant. "I... could have possibly, more likely that I definitely did an' which is very much in me nature to do so; _demanded_ that he show me his piece of eight."

"So let me see if I got the story right. You chased Willie across two oceans all the way to his haven, fought him and his crew, killed his crew, demanded that he hand over his title and piece of eight and then left him to die in his own cave?" She stared at him, expecting him to correct her on something but when he didn't she added; "Am I right?"

Barbossa began to nod in reply and was halted when she leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. He did not dare move and tried to force himself to relax. If she was willing to be this close to him after what he had said to her, he wasn't about to ruin the opportunity to repair what little friendship they had formed over the journey to Singapore.

"What happened to his treasure?" she broke into his thoughts after several minutes of silence.

"Left it where I found it," he answered.

"You mean you didn't take it?"

"Couldn't an' didn't want to."

"Why not?" she asked him, sitting up to look at him again. He met her piercing gaze and sighed softly.

"T'was part of the deal I made with Willie, plus at the time I was also cursed an' had enough swag already to retire me over several lifetimes. Anyway, I agreed to spare his life an' let him keep his treasure in exchange fer his title an' piece of eight. Course he had expected to be able to leave the cavern but me crew had rigged the opening to cave in."

"You agreed to let him live, but he failed to specify how and where he would live the rest of his life out?" She repeated one of his lines he had used against Will and anyone else that pretty much failed to properly negotiate terms with him.

"Aye, that be the agreement."

"Pirate."

"Proud of it," he smirked and shifted on the floor into a more comfortable position that resulted in folding a leg underneath the other. He noticed she leaned her head against him again and he carefully placed his arm around her in an attempt to draw her closer to him. He was surprised when she didn't resist the attempt and found that he could finally relax.

"So there are three ways to becoming a Pirate Lord. Earn it. Inherit it. Steal it."

"Aye." They were silent again and Barbossa was content to just sitting there with her against him, enjoying the warmth of her flesh through his wet cloths as well as her company. He wondered what Elizabeth would feel like against his own body without clothing between them. He doubted he would ever get to feel her body or see her naked again. The show Sao Feng's guards had made her put on had been a pleasant sight and he wouldn't have minded seeing her unclothed again.

"So what does yours look like?"

"Hmm?" he pulled himself out of his reverie to look down at her, slightly astonished that she would ask him such a personal question. But he quickly composed himself once realizing that she was not asking for such. He could feel his ears reddening slightly from the embarrassment of letting his mind wander into the slums and nearly letting on what he was thinking about.

"What is your piece of eight?" If she had noticed the change in his features, she did not let on that she knew much to his relief.

"Regetti's eye."

"Well that explains why he is so frantic about not losing it."

He chuckled a bit. "Aye it does explain a lot. Use to be Willie's eye before he decided to wear that ridiculously jeweled eye-patch of his." Elizabeth grinned; trying to imagine what One Eyed Willie looked like with his eye-patch and could not quite visualize a serious enough image to keep her from laughing.

"What be so funny?" Barbossa asked her curiously all the while looking down at her. He shouldn't have considering that Elizabeth was still wearing the Singaporean robe the guards had forced her to wear after she had been stripped searched. He swallowed thickly at seeing how the wet silk clung to her slim frame, revealing every curve of her body and then some. Although he could not see her bare flesh through the fabric; he could, however, remember what she had looked like and tried to imagine that is how she appeared now.

His blue gaze wandered down her neck, taking note how a strand of soaked hair clung to the curve of her collarbone before traveling downward to the voluptuous cleft upon her chest, which most of it was hidden beneath the thin, wet and revealing fabric of her robe. Oh how he so much wanted to know what she tasted like on his tongue as he drew a line from her throat and down her chest and over her pert breasts. He could not help but wonder what it would be like to have her, not with the way she was attired nor the way she had acted towards him a few days ago and that she was now beginning to open back up to him after his cold words to her.

He had given her nearly a week to mourn the loss of young William Turner and as the time passed, he found himself watching her more often than he normally did while the young man had been alive. He had toyed with the idea of carrying out his lost plans from nearly a year ago and wondered if he could convince her to be his willing _pirate bride_ like he had told her he had intended to do. As he stared, watching her chest rise and fall as she breathed and how the fabric shifted with each breath she took and thought once more what it would be like to have her before trying to wrestle his gaze away from her body before he did act on that fantasy; it finally occurred to him that she had been sitting and laying in water in only her robe and he had done nothing to offer her any more comfort other than a warm body to sleep next to at night.

As Elizabeth answered his inquiry, he pulled his arm out from behind her and sat up straighter and began to remove his coat. "What are you doing?" she asked of him halfway through her explanation of how she imagined Willie's eye-patch to be. He found her image to be rather amusing and had been unable to suppress an amused smirk while he pulled his arms out of the sleeves of his coat.

"Have ye taken note of yer attire lately?" he rhetorically asked her and twisted around so he could put the garment around her shoulders. He pulled her hair out of the way, his fingers brushing against the nape of her neck and sending a tingling sensation coursing through his body at the close touch. "Fer as much as I be enjoyin' the show ye are givin' tis not healthy fer ye to continue to be dressed in such a manner." He leered at her while she glanced down at her attire. Suddenly she was very aware of what she must look like to him and began to pull his coat around her frame a lot closer than he had been able to put it on her.

"Th... Thank you." Elizabeth side-glanced at him and watched as his eyes still roamed her body despite the fact that it was now completely hidden behind his coat. "You can stop staring now, Captain. There isn't anything to look at anymore."

"Now I wouldn't be sayin' that." Barbossa chuckled and leaned back once more, replacing his arm around her. He felt her tense up at his touch and he met her intense gaze with his own. "Relax, missy. I won't force ye to do somethin' ye ain't willin' to give."

"I'm glad to hear that Captain because I would hate to have to hurt you, should you attempt to try." She replied sardonically and adjusted the coat one more time.

"Now there be nothin' said that I wouldn't attempt to convince ye to do otherwise."

She gaped at him in astonishment and then replied presumptuously; "Is that all you can think about when you look at me, Captain?"

"Nay, but it be rather difficult not to when ye are dressed as ye were." Barbossa leaned over, his arm that was behind her reaching up and grabbing one of the cell bars for support, until he was just inches from her face. "'Course ye aren't exactly tryin' to be a proper governor's daughter either, ye know."

"And how would you know of such behavior?" she challenged.

"I be knowin' that ye shouldn't be dressin' like a boy, sailin' a ship, killin' an' plunderin' like a pirate an' playin' games like a coy minx."

"I am not playing games," she replied defensively and grabbing his wrist as his fingers of his free hand traced down her cheek, brushing back a wet cluster of hair. "You're the one who is playing games, Captain."

"Oh? Then ye wouldn't mind payin' me that kiss ye owe me?" He leered at her and he leaned closer to her to accept it.

Elizabeth leaned back and away from him, saying; "What kiss?"

"Fer not leavin' ye alone with the pirates." He reminded her.

"You were pretending to be poisoned, Captain..."

"Hector..."

"What?"

"Hector or Barbossa, if ye please." He repeated. "That be me name an' since I be short of a ship at the moment, the title don't exactly fit."

"Barbossa. As I was saying, you could hardly leave me alone when you were not actually dying."

"Aye, true." He gave a slight nod of his head. "But I would still like that kiss." Barbossa leaned forward again and Elizabeth turned her face away. He was not put off by her unwillingness to give him what he wanted and pressed onward like a navigator who was determined not to be lost at sea by charting a course along her jaw line with feathery kisses of his lips.

"Capt... Barbossa, please don't do this," he heard her plead and smiled at hearing a pleased gasp when his course found it's way to her neck. He kept his free hand to himself, unwilling to press too quickly so soon, not until she gave him the kiss he asked for would he attempt to press farther.

"Ye seem to be enjoyin' me attentions," he stated between velvety kisses upon her flesh.

"How can I...," she moaned softly when he turned his attentions back to her jaw and then her ear, "not when you are trying to make me enjoy this."

"Not tryin'." His kisses were making their way back along her jaw as he spoke. "If ye don't want this, then why ye still lettin' me?"

"Barbossa..."

"Swann."

"Please..."

"Please what?"

"I... You..."

He almost had his prize, a carefully placed kiss at the corner of her lips would have done her in and given him what he wanted but the sudden appearance of a fluff of fur landing on his shoulder and startling them both out of what was happening caused him to miss his opportunity.

_No! Bugger it all to Hell! So close!_

"Jack!" He turned his head to glower at the capuchin monkey for ruining his chance; briefly thinking how similarly annoying the creature was to his namesake. The monkey chirped at him apologetically and the pirate captain sighed softly, pulling back from Elizabeth who seemed both grateful for the interruption and slightly disappointed at the same time. He scratched behind the little creature's head who in turn, turned to nuzzle him across the cheek affectionately before giving an accusing glare at Elizabeth.

"It seem de Jack be not wantin' tae share him master," a familiar sing-song voice spoke and both pirates looked across the cell to stare in surprise at who stood on the other side of the cell door.

"Ah Miss Dalma, so lovely to see ye again," Barbossa smiled wickedly.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews to those who have reviewed and thanks to those who read the story even though this pairing really isn't their kind of _ship_. Heh. Be forwarned, its good fics that sign ye onto the crew of a ship ye don't normally like. Tis what happened to me, lol. Anywho... the easter egg that I mentioned last chapter. It is "One-Eyed Willie", the dead pirate captain who is in the 1980s movie "Goonies" and his treasure and ship is the center of the movies plot. Everything Barbossa mentioned in the last chapter is what happened to One-Eyed Willie, except it was the Royal Navy that chased him to his cave and not Barbossa. And it was Willie who killed his crew.**

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**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Five**

"Hecta Barbossa," she drawled sweetly in her Jamaican accent as the pirate climbed to his feet and joined her at the cell door. "Tings not play out as him hope, hmm?"

"Nay," he answered her. Her hand played with his sword belt, the fingers tracing along the smooth, dark leather. Barbossa grinned lavishly and grabbed her roaming hand before it could wander to places he considered sensitive to the touch. His smile softened somewhat as he continued to speak. "Even though we be on our way to World's End to retrieve Sparrow, without me piece of eight this whole journey would be fer naught in the end."

Regetti was the keeper of his piece of eight and as far as he knew, the lean pirate was laying dead beneath the bathhouse. He had no way of going back to Singapore to retrieve the wooden eyeball and without it, he could not continue to claim his right as Pirate Lord once it came time to present the trinket at the court. But what had upset him the most was that he would be unable to carry out the task that which Tia Dalma had entrusted him with as payment for his resurrection.

"I failed ye," he remorsefully and a little fearfully whispered to the voodoo priestess. He knew what the price of failure would be for him, he only hoped he could convince her to let him to continue to live long enough to try again. Even if he could not complete the task now, he would at least have all but one piece of the task completed. All he would have to do is hope he could find his piece of eight again. He met her piercing brown gaze again, looking for that hope and saw her watching him with keen interest.

She studied him carefully with her signature smile that said she knew something he did not. Curiosity ate at him, wondering what she could know that he didn't. He was about to ask her when her other hand took his off of the cell bar and folded around it. His eyebrows furrowed forward quizzically and his blue gaze flickered to his hand as he realized that something had been placed in his palm. She removed her hand from his and took a step back to let him inspect what she had given to him.

It was round and smooth to the touch and he dared not open his enclosed fist for fear of losing the item that he had thought he had lost. But he had to see for his own and with his own eyes to make sure he was not being tricked by this obeah woman. Slowly and tentatively he opened his hand and stared in disbelief at the tiny object that rested in the cup of his palm.

It was Regetti's wooden eye.

His intense gaze quickly snapped to the witch goddess even as his hand wrapped around the piece of eight once more. "How? Ye've seen the crew? What happened? Why'd they fail to get me my swords? Those yellow, scurvy, sons of whores better not have mutinied against me!"

"Now, now, Hecta," Tia Dalma said with a wily smile and pressed her inked hand against his cheek reassuringly. "Dey canna betray ye when dey be guests o' Lor' Beckett."

"What?"

"They've been captured?" Elizabeth said from behind Barbossa and he turned to glance at her.

"Aye, dem were ambushed like ah doe dat know not o' dey dangers o' dey water. Like dey ol' croc o' dey swamp, him men were layin' in wait fer Sao Feng when dey crew enter dey steam house not knowin' dey had been seen by him men."

"Are they alright? Has anyone...?" Tia shook her head at Elizabeth's concern.

"Dem be alive if dat be yer concern. Cleva' Beckett know dat dey have info'mation an' him will keep dem alive 'til him know all dat dey know."

"How did ye get me eye?" he asked of her and she smiled at him knowingly. "And since we be askin' ye questions here, when in blue blazes did ye get on the ship?"

"Poor Regetti, him always be losin' him eye." Tia smiled mischievously. "It lay where him lose it in dey steam house durin' dey struggle with dem men o' Beckett. When dey battle move on tae other parts o' dey port, I snatched dey eye an' made me way tae dis here junk. Ye already be aware o' dey role Jack played in dey fight, no?"

"Aye. That I do." Barbossa chuckled at the memory. He had been busy fighting one of the soldiers when a firework rocketed between them and into a hut filled with more fireworks. The distraction had provided him the opening he needed to skewer the man and make a hasty retreat to the _Hai Peng_. Somehow knowing that they were talking about him, the monkey scrambled up onto Barbossa's shoulder and nuzzled into his master's gentle hand. "That be me clever boy."

"Aye, dat him be. Dey chaos him cause were dey perfect cover fer me tae sneak onboard an' hide."

"Sao Feng will not be happy to learn that he has a stowaway on board," Elizabeth pointed out. "How have you kept yourself from being discovered all this time?"

"Jack," was her simple reply and Barbossa laughed out loud, highly amused by it all.

"So that be the reason why Jack been stealin' food an' water, considerin' that he no longer be in need of such."

"Can you get us out of here, Tia?" Elizabeth asked after a moment. She held onto two of the cell's bars and watched the voodoo witch curiously. Tia Dalma shook her head in reply before glancing in the direction of one of the ladders that led up to the next deck on board the junk.

"An' where would ye go?" she asked the governor's daughter turned pirate. "Best dat ye stay here an' let Sao Feng tink he be in control."

"Agreed," Barbossa interjected, side-glancing at his cellmate. "When the right opportune moment comes, that is when we make our move against him. Until then, missy, ye best learn patience." Elizabeth gave him an annoyed look in response. They both then noticed Tia Dalma take a glance in the same direction once more and when she looked back at them, Jack leapt from Barbossa's shoulder to hers much to his annoyance.

"Dey be comin' an' I best be goin'," she said to them. "I be comin' back in three days time..." But before she could step away, Barbossa's hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist. She glared at him warningly and he only grinned before letting her ago.

"If ye wouldn't mine, could ye perhaps get us somethin' dry to lay on?" he asked of her and she smiled wickedly at him. "Seein' that Sao Feng is neglectin' his guests an' that yer free to roam his ship..."

"I will see what ah can do, but I canna promise anythin'," she answered and then quickly left the brig. Barbossa turned around and began to pace in the cell. Elizabeth knew this to mean that he was reevaluating their situation and considering the new options that had just been opened for them with the recent discoveries. She was about to ask him what he was thinking when the sounds of barefooted steps approached the brig.

"Elizabeth Swann."

Barbossa stopped his pacing to glance up at the intrusion into his thoughts and frowned when he saw that Sao Feng was among the pirates that had come down to the brig. He noticed that Elizabeth had bristled slightly upon hearing his voice and the old pirate stepped over to her, resting a ringed hand on her shoulder as he came around to her front, putting himself between her and the Malaysian pirate. He gave her a serious look that pretty much told her to let him do the talking but he highly doubted that she would listen to him anyway.

She was far too independent and fickle as any woman he had ever met or known. Her spirit reminded him of his first and only love, the crystal blue sea. Comparing her to the ocean gave him an idea that could help them both and protect her from Sao Feng's lecherous intentions. _I only hope she be smart enough to catch on,_ he thought as he grinned cheerfully at the Pirate Lord.

"Thought ye weren't gonna grace us with ye presence anymore?" Barbossa rhetorically asked and Sao Feng merely glanced at him before returning his attention back to the woman who stood behind the old pirate.

"I have merely come here for her," Feng replied and motioned for his men to unlock the cell to retrieve her. But Barbossa approached the door and placed a hand on a bar to delay them as he lowered his voice so only the Malaysian could hear him.

"Would be unwise of ye to take her, mate. Assume ye know what's good fer ye."

"Sentimentality, Captain Barbossa? For a wench?" Sao Feng gave a predator's grin as he looked at Barbossa. "Very unbecoming of the Pirate Lord of the Caspian Sea."

"I am no wench, Captain Sao Feng," Elizabeth said from behind Barbossa.

"Aye, she be no wench. But I ain't been sentimental fer her, mate." He leaned forward as if he were about to tell a terrible secret and did not want anyone else to overhear him. "Would be unwise to cross the powers that be by _takin'_ her. Bad enough that the First Court bound her."

"Bound her?" Barbossa smiled slyly. He had piqued Sao Feng's curiosity and now the man would listen to what he had to say. Both Pirate Lord's gave Elizabeth a glance in her direction, one was mischievous and the other was suspicious.

"Aye,_ Calypso_." Barbossa continued, returning his gaze back to his equal. "She be the reason why we must fetch back Jack. He holds one of the nine pieces of eight that bound her, without it she will remain bound."

"And you are calling me unwise, Captain Barbossa. Freeing her will only bring about our doom."

"Nay," he shook his head. "It were the First Brethren Court that bound her an' so it should be fitting that it be the Fourth Court that frees her. We need her help if we should even consider victory against Beckett and his ilk." He paused long enough to let his words to sink in before he added in a conspiratorial whisper. "She already has promised me rewards when I complete the task. I see no reason why she would refuse to give ye the same should ye help free her. But if ye be thinkin' of takin' her, ye only would place yerself in the same position as the other seven Pirate Lords."

Barbossa watched Sao Feng as the man studied him and then glanced at Elizabeth, uncertainty washing over his face before it was replaced with the familiar visage of greed and villainy as he bought Barbossa's lie. "Even if she were to choose to destroy the Brethren Court, having her favor alone is enough reward with the coming power vacuum across the seven seas."

"Aye, me thoughts exactly. You an' me, the last two Pirate Lords of the world dominating the seven seas uncontested an' with the favor of a goddess. Beckett an' his ilk wouldn't be able to stop _that_."

"You have interested me greatly, Captain Barbossa," Sao Feng said. "However, I will still have a word with her. Now if you do not mind, step away so my men can open the door." His tone left no room for argument or delay and so Barbossa quickly complied. The pirate stepped away and over to Elizabeth who had been watching the exchange with a confused curiosity before narrowing her eyes at Barbossa in suspicion.

He placed his leather bound hand to her cheek as he leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "Do nothin' to upset him an' you'll be fine." The sound of keys jingling behind him and the creak of the un-oiled cell door pulled him away from her.

"Barbossa?" She calls him uncertainly as two Malaysian pirates enter the cell and start walking towards her.

"Do ye trust me?" he seriously asks her.

"As far as I can throw you." Her reply stung him and the hurt must have shown on his face because then she nodded softly as the two pirates began to take her away. Why having her not trust him would sting him like so, he wasn't so sure about. However, he decided that perhaps Sao Feng was right about one thing; he had become soft when it came to the delectable Elizabeth Swann. It was something he was not too comfortable with and perhaps was glad that he would have some hours alone to sort out his feelings and remove the unwanted ones. First he had to understand where Elizabeth Swann stood in his life.

Someone to let in to his life or someone to treat as a crewman?


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks again for the kind reviews! **

**EasyRain - I know what you mean. When i first came upon this pairing, I wasn't too keen on it but as I kept on stumbling across some really good fics on this pairing, I fell in love with it and have been hooked ever since! Your English is fine for it being a second language. I can understand you perfectly. :)**

**Florencia7 - Im glad you liked it. Barbossa's accent isn't that hard for me to mimic into words, now Tia Dalma's omg... You know how many times I had to watch DMC just so I could get hers as close as possible? Too many times and I'm glad she has a small role in this story!**

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**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Six**

It had been hours since Sao Feng had come and taken Elizabeth away while under the belief that she was a goddess bound in mortal form. The only concern Barbossa had for her been whether she was capable of pulling off such a charade. He had never told her why Tia Dalma had resurrected him and the voodoo witch had never given that information to anyone else whether they asked or not. For all Elizabeth and the crew knew, Tia Dalma owed him a favor or he owed her a favor and either way said favor could not be repaid if he were a rotting corpse, this time very much dead. Though he wondered, as he sat there on the soaked floorboards of the brig, whether he should have told her something about the role she had to play. He only hoped she was smart enough to catch on to what Sao Feng mistakenly believed and did not ruin it all for them both.

Despite the terms of their agreement, Barbossa realized he had left Sao Feng a tiny loophole. Stretching said loophole, the Malaysian pirate could harm them as much as he wanted until it came time for him to honor his pact. The terms agreed upon had said Sao Feng had to let them go alive and unharmed, that did not mean Sao Feng could not harm them in any way up until that point. It just meant that Sao Feng had to make sure they were fully healed before their release. And if the pirate realized that such a loophole existed and then learned that Barbossa had lied to him about Calypso, this journey would bode ill for the old pirate.

However he did not doubt too much of Elizabeth's ability to pretend to be something she wasn't when necessity called for it and therefore had little to worry about. He recalled the first time he had been deceived by her ability to act out a role and lie between her pearly-white teeth. At the end of the screenplay it had resulted in the lifting of his curse but at the cost of his life. Not to mention all the gold and silver he had collected over ten years was now lost to the sea.

Ten years of suffering and all he got out of it was his life.

He barked a short laugh at the thought and realized how selfish and greedy he sounded. He should be grateful and was grateful that he was alive. The odds of ever coming back from the dead after a year had passed were nigh improbable, near impossible in fact. It had taken a bound goddess all her ability and knowledge to bring him back from the long slumber he had taken. She even had told him that her chances of succeeding were rather slim while she was reduced to her current form. He had not realized how much it took out of her until he had seen that her body had aged a few years and she seemed to be tired more often for a few days afterwards. She eventually recovered from the spell while he had spent those days lavishly relishing all the lost scents and sensations of the Jamaican swampland, enjoying every taste and touch he could experience now that the curse was lifted and he was alive long enough to feel once again. He remembered going to the nearby village and trading one of his rings for a bushel of apples and taking them back to Tia Dalma's hut and enjoying every last one of them like he had said he would do once the curse was lifted.

He had done more in the few days he had spent there up until the crew had returned without _The Black Pearl_ and it's daft captain, Jack Sparrow, but those were memories he could look back upon when he was finally old and decrepit on some island home he hoped to build one day. For now, he had other things to think and worry upon. Like Elizabeth Swann keeping her cool while in Sao Feng's presence. He was grateful for one thing, Sao Feng's men had taken away their weapons again, including his dagger she had pulled from his belt, so he did not have to worry about her trying to kill the Pirate Lord while she was with him.

But he was kidding himself. If Elizabeth Swann was really determined about doing something, she would find a way to do it, including finding a way to kill a man by any means possible. He had, after all, taught her to be creative in that matter so that if she ever found herself in a life-threatening situation she could defend herself with anything rather than rely on a sword or pistol to help her. Suddenly he pitied Sao Feng and discovered that he could not stop laughing at the pirate's predicament should Elizabeth decide to ignore all his warnings and take the man's life then and there. He found he was curious as to how Elizabeth would kill him.

Would she yank the Malaysian's beard off to give her the advantage she needed to plunge his own dagger into his heart? He knew she had the ability to kill within her blood, had he himself not been immortalized by the curse, he would have been her first victim. And he suspected that she had already killed once before when he had been teaching her several ways to get out of a pair of shackles. Now that he thought about it, he could recall that she seemed wary of the things, almost treating them as if they were infested with the black plague. He had asked her what her problem was when she failed to pay attention to his lecture for the third time and he had almost gotten the truth out of her. All he knew is that it had something to do with Jack Sparrow's death and talking about it made her uncomfortable, almost to the point of tears. He would have pressed further, but something inside him told him to let her be and that she would tell him when she had finally conquered those demons that plagued her.

He never found out and he never pressed her for it again.

Sighing softly, the captain adjusted his place on the floor until he found another somewhat comfortable position before resuming his thoughts on the fierce-hearted governor's daughter that wanted to meet a pirate so much so in her childhood. He brought the memory of that day when he learned a little more about that little girl and how much she had changed from the governor's daughter to the pirate lass who knew how to get her way...

_They had been a week out from the port of Tortuga, catching passage aboard a Dutch trader ship that was less then reputable and was heading toward the Indonesian isles in the South China Sea, when he had decided to take it upon himself to teach Elizabeth how to be a pirate during their off-duty hours. Most of the crew aboard spoke only Dutch or German and made it difficult sometimes to convey simple words to each other and which also made it easier to worry less about them overhearing his lessons or conversations he did not want them to hear. His only real concerns were the Captain and the cabin boy, both of whom had been schooled in English and also which made the journey to the other side of the world aboard a non-English speaking vessel a lot easier. What he had been concerned about the most was not the fact that they could discover what they were, no he had chosen this ship and captain for that reason in mind, but that the two could overhear something they were not privy to learn._

_If they had learned anything, they both had been wise enough not to cross Hector Barbossa upon learning it._

_That particular day he had been down in the hold of the merchantman, showing Elizabeth how to pick locks, in particular those commonly found on brig doors and shackles. When he had first started his lesson, Elizabeth had been unaware of what he had intended to do when he began guiding her past the main hold and further down into the ship until they both were standing in front of the dreadful, bleak and foul-smelling brig. She had spun around on him both curious and suspicious of his intentions, demanding what he was doing._

"_Teaching," he had simply replied and then promptly shoved her into the cell and closed it behind her. She had quickly regained her footing and jumped at the door just as it closed and locked in place with a twist of the iron key, yelling and demanding that he let her out. "Now, now... ye know a pirate canna get out by demandin' his captor to let him out. There be only two ways out of this cell, ye either be walkin' to yer death or ye let yerself out."_

"_I am obviously not going to be walking to my death, as you put it, Captain, so you have to let me out if I can't get out."_

"_As I said, yer captor ain't gonna let ye out unless ye walkin' to yer death, missy." He smiled viciously and tucked the iron key into his belt. "So ye must let yerself out."_

"_How?" she asked him skeptically. "You have the key and I doubt you will let me try and take it from you."_

"_Aye, true. So how does a pirate get himself out of such a situation?" He saw her tense a split second before she lunged forward as far as the bars would let her, grabbing for the key at his belt but he had quickly leapt back from her grasping hand and chuckled in amusement at her attempts to get herself free. "I suppose that be one way, but then what were ye plannin' on doin' next once ye had the key?"_

"_Let myself out of course!" she answered hotly, quite annoyed at the predicament she found herself in, all because she had trusted him. _

"_Aye... but then ye would have only found yerself right back where ye started." She mouthed an "oh" as she realized he had spoken the truth. Had she been successful in grabbing the key and letting herself out, he would have simply taken the key right back and shoved her back in just like a real captor would have done. She had to somehow get the key from him without him knowing or incapacitate him and take the key, then let herself out._

"_Since you are the teacher, how do you suggest I get out?"_

"_I be yer captor, not yer teacher. Figure it out yerself," he laughed and began to walk away, leaving her in the cell._

"_Barbossa!" she shouted after him as he ascended the stairs into the hold above. _

"_An' don't be thinkin' of callin' fer help, lass. The crew, both of them, will be under strict orders to not let ye out." He knew she would not be able to get out of the cell right away and suspected she would be down there for hours, if not days. He would allow no one to go down there and provide suggestions on how to set herself free and when young Will Turner confronted him about feeding her, he had reassured the lad that she would be given food and water regular when he went down to check on her._

_He had been right about how long she would be down there. The day and most of the evening passed when he made his first journey back down to the brig to see how she was doing, bringing a plate of warm food and a flask of water with him. As he made his descent into the lower depths of the ship, he heard a clatter as something was dropped rather abruptly and quickly followed by wood scraping on wood. Curious, he entered the brig at a faster pace and found Elizabeth sitting scrunched up on the bench that was in her cell._

"_Now what ye been up to all this time, missy?" he asked her as he narrowed his eyes, watching her and trying to figure out what she had been doing and abruptly stopped upon hearing his approach. "Been sittin' there all day an' night poutin' like a little governor's daughter have we?"_

"_Bug off, Barbossa," she spat at him, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring venomously at him. He laughed at her falsely directed hatred as he stopped in front of the cell door with the food and water in his hands._

"_Well if I do that, then I can't give ye yer evenin' meal," he started to turn away but she quickly stood up and walked over to the door. He chuckled softly at her before stretching out his arms and giving her the plate and flask. He noticed her eyes shift towards his belt, looking for the key that he had now moved somewhere else on his person and out of easy sight for her. He grinned approvingly upon seeing that she had not quite given up on getting out of the cell._

"_Will you ever let me out?"_

_He considered her question while she ate the bread and soup he had given her. "Perhaps," he shrugged softly._

"_I could be down here for days!" she protested._

"_Aye an' normally captured pirates are," he countered, placing a hand on a cell bar and leaning against it. "Ye got almost four months to figure out how to get out, 'til then I'll keep bringing ye food an' water."_

"_Captain..." she interjected and looked at him sternly. "Certainly you would not waste four months trying to teach me how to escape."_

"_Be mightily disappointed if it took ye that long, but aye ye be right, I won't let ye waste all that time when it can be best used to teach ye other things. So I be given ye a week to get out of here an' if ye haven't escaped by then..."_

"_You will let me out?" she asked hopefully and he shook his head in reply. "Why not?"_

"_I'll tell ye how to get out an' then let ye try it on yer own."_

"_Figures."_

_He laughed at her. "Don't be mad at me or hate me fer tryin' to teach ye how to survive in my world. I won't keep ye down here fer four months, yer boy won't let me."_

"_I doubt it," Elizabeth answered quietly and put her food down next to her on the bench before staring at her hands. He stared at her, puzzled and a little miffed._

"_Ye doubt me word?" he accused._

"_No, not that, Captain. I know your word is law to you, however twisted it may be sometimes." Barbossa grinned furtively at her remark, but said nothing as he waited for her to continue in explaining what she had meant. "It is Will..."_

"_Ah..." he nodded in understanding. "Havin' a lovers quarrel are we?"_

"_Something like that," she said wistfully. "Ever since Jack died... Will refuses to acknowledge me except whenever we are working. I've tried talking to him about it but he keeps brushing me off or changes the subject."_

"_Hmm..." he thoughtfully murmured and straightened his form as he looked down on the girl, sitting almost remorsefully in the cell. "I be not an expert on this subject, lass, but to me it sounds like the lad is upset over somethin' ye either did or... yer boy ain't exactly yer boy if ye be catchin' me meanin'." He must have been right about something because he caught the briefest flicker of guilt flash across her face before she hid it behind a mask of disgust at his implication, whichever one that may be._

_She slowly stood up and walked over to the cell door, pressing her cheek against one of the bars and he got the impression that she wanted, nay needed someone to talk to and he was there willing to listen to her. "He has no reason to be suspicious of me... unless," she trailed off and he could tell that she was horrified about something that the young Turner may have found out._

"_Ah... so ye have been unfaithful after all," he interpreted, shaking a finger at her and grinning suggestively._

"_I haven't," Elizabeth defended and glared at him. "Not exactly..." When he said nothing else in response to her denial, she continued with a heavy sigh, wondering why she was even telling him this. "I... may have kissed someone."_

"_Jack, I suspect?" _

"_How did you... never mind. Is it that obvious?" she asked the old pirate._

"_When Jack be involved? Aye," Barbossa grabbed a second bar and leaned forward so that his face was mere inches from hers as he continued to speak in a low, conspiratorial tone; "I'd be mightily surprised if ye didn't kiss him once or twice an' things went from there."_

"_I only kissed him once and nothing else happened."_

"_Good, I'd question yer tastes if it did."_

"_I was only curious, it meant nothing to me," she rattled off and turned her back to him, leaning against the cell door as she spoke. "I wanted to know what it was it like to kiss a pirate."_

"_Lass, ye wasted a kiss on that daft fool. Jack be no pirate despite the brand on his arm." She glanced over her shoulder at him and raised an eyebrow before turning around and facing him. She replaced both of her hands on the same bars that his were resting on and he noticed the close proximity of them to his own._

"_I suppose you would be an expert on who or what a pirate really is," Elizabeth replied coyly and he narrowed his eyes at her, wondering._

"_Course I would, I _be_ a pirate." His gaze flickered to one of her hands as it moved and overlapped a part of his own and felt a sensation he had not felt in over ten years. Barbossa felt surprised at the feeling of being touched by a woman, especially when that woman happened to be Elizabeth Swann, someone he thought he would no longer be interested in after she had not only lied to him but participated in his murder._

_Elizabeth noticed the flicker of his gaze and met his once he focused on her again. "You know... I have always been curious..." she began and let her eyes drop to his hand she had touched and guided her hand across his fingers, tracing a path down the knuckles and over the leather that was wrapped around his hand._

"_Curious about what exactly?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the movements of her fingers as they slipped underneath the cuff of his shirtsleeve. He could feel the hairs on his arm stand up with a pleasurable tingle at her delicate touch and he almost wished that her hand were somewhere else on his body other than just there._

"_You," she answered and caught his gaze snapping up to meet her intense and desirable one. "Ever since our first dinner I was half-expecting you to take me and I was both curious and afraid as to what it would be like. Would you be as gentle as you were well mannered or would you have been rough and cruel like your reputation said you were?"_

_Barbossa grinned lecherously at her and took her hand from his arm and softly brushed her fingertips with his lips. "Still curious are ye?" He watched her close her eyes at his gesture and wondered when over the last year this child had become such a coy minx. She answered him by taking his other hand and softly pressing it to her cheek, leaning into his palm as if seeking comfort in his touch. His hand was released from hers and she did not flinch away when he tenderly stroke her face with his thumb._

"_You had said the first thing you would do would eat a bushel of apples," she said and met his icy blue gaze again. "What did you plan on doing next once you had sated that lust?" He pulled her closer to the barrier that separated them both and followed a path from her face and down her body to the small of her back, enjoying the feel of her shape against the palm of his hand and across his fingertips. She seemed to have enjoyed his touch for she had closed her eyes and rested her free hand on his shoulder._

"_Take pleasure in the warmth of a woman's flesh," he answered her softly, his breathing having quickened a pace._

"_And have you?"_

"_Curious enough to find out?" he asked her. Elizabeth grabbed him by the coat and pulled him closer until they both were just inches apart with only the cell acting as a barrier between them both. Her hand rested against the exposed part of his smooth chest, feeling the beat of his heart against her palm. She reached up and felt his neck and his beard and he allowed her to guide him closer to her._

"_You sure you want something that has been tasted by Jack?" she asked him boldly. _

"_Ye wouldn't be the first," he whispered and felt her hand slide down his chest and across his baldric, pressing into his flesh seductively as she made her way down his stomach. He felt his stomach twist at her touch and he pressed forward, promising himself that he would only steal a kiss from her and leave her wanting more. As his lips brushed hers softly, he suddenly became aware of a familiar pressure at his loins and growled his pleasure both at the sensation and at the idea that she wanted him._

_He believed that if this did not stop soon, he would forget that he was teaching her a lesson and lock himself in the cell with her just so he could sedate her curiosity and his lust. "Ye are aware that I be a pirate an' if ye go any lower, I canna be held responsible if I were to act like a pirate."_

"_Told you I want to know what its like to have a pirate," she whispered in his ear and he stole soft kisses upon her jaw and nibbled at her ear. And as he moved around to her lips, she added; "But not with you." Before he could pull back and stop her, he felt a sudden relief of pressure at his loins as his pistol was removed and the world blacked out before him._

_He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but when he came to, he found himself locked up in the same cell he had imprisoned Elizabeth in but without the fine-looking lass and without the iron key to get himself back out. Quickly he jumped to his feet and shook the cell door and shouted out to her when he saw that she was not there. When no one answered his angered cries, he took stock of how he ended up where he was and laughed out loud at her slyness and how she played him for a fool._

_At least now he knew she could get out of a cell._

"_Wench."_


	7. Chapter 7

_Warning: This chapter is Rated "M"_

* * *

**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Seven**

By the time, Elizabeth returned to the cell in a fresh set of clothing, cut to the style of Singapore, and with two hammocks and blankets; Hector Barbossa, she discovered, was fast asleep in the wet layer of seawater. He was half propped up against the wall and had probably been sleeping upright when the Sandman had pushed him over slightly. His arms were folded against him with his hands tucked under each arm and he had one leg uncomfortably folded beneath him. She left him there as he was and as she went about hanging the two hammocks she had convinced Sao Feng to give them, she noticed he was muttering in his sleep and began to wonder what he was dreaming about. Whatever it was he was dreaming of, it must have been pleasant for she could see a smile creeping onto his roguish features.

_Probably something lecherous_, she concluded sarcastically and decided to leave him there in the water rather than wake him up from his dream. She slid into her hammock and before she realized that she had begun to stare at him, she was watching him sleep and thinking how much different he was when he was not awake. He seemed almost boyish, like a child trapped inside a man's body that only came out when the man had slipped into unconsciousness. The smile that had crept onto his face added to that childlikeness and the soft features of relaxed muscles made him appear younger than he really was and more pleasing to the eye.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a mirthful noise emanating from him and that which she believed must be muffled laughter. She was beginning to be quite curious as to what he was dreaming about that both put a smile on his sleeping face and made him laugh in his sleep. She almost felt like getting out of the hammock to find out by going over to him and awaken him but decided that he probably would rather not be interrupted from something that was apparently pleasant to him. She would have been rather miffed if someone had interrupted her pleasurable dream. So instead, she settled for trying to guess what he was dreaming about and of the many things that she drew a conclusion to; only one came close to the truth and would have known of it had she had the ability to see into his mind.

However, she didn't and would have to settle for waking him up and asking him what it was that he was so happy about. Besides, she couldn't leave him to sleep in the water any longer than was necessary when there was a perfectly dry hammock for him to spend the night in. Quietly she climbed out of her hammock, walked over to him, and crouched at his side, careful to keep her clothes out of the water. At this distance she could see things about him much more easily than she ever could just standing next to him or afar from him.

Again, as she stared at him, she wondered what it was that he was dreaming.

* * *

"_That's it?" his captive had incredulously asked him while he held her wrist._

"_Waste not," he had replied smugly. He had forced her to drop the bloodstained coin into the stone chest and he had released her to revel in the breaking of the curse. He had almost expected it to not work and when he felt the first sensation in over ten years, the beat of his heart within his chest, he had shouted out with joy and pronounced to his crew that they were free of the heathen gods and their wretched curse. While his men celebrated their restored lives by piling as much gold into their pockets, hats, boots and arms as they could, he had turned to his captive and he looked at her like she were the greatest treasure within the entire cavern and saw only confusion and disbelief in her face._

"_Mine," he had proclaimed with a sneer when his crewman, Twigg, began to look at her with lust filled eyes. "We'll make for Tortuga once ye scurvy dogs are done fillin' yer boots to the brim with gold! But the girl, I claim fer meself!" And to make good on his word, he took her by the arm and led her down the backside of the treasure mound. _

"_Ye need not fear me like so, missy," he had said to her, almost pleasantly. "I won't let those bilge rats lay a finger on ye."_

"_And what about you, Captain?" she asked suspiciously. _

"_Did I not say that the first thing I would do was eat a whole bushel of apples?" He laughed heartily at her expression of disbelief. "Aye, I be a man of me word, missy. First come the apples I've longed to taste... then ye." She had tried to pull away from him but his black-nailed hand held on fast to her. He pulled her to him until both of their chests were pressed against each other. He held onto her firmly as he reached over and scooped up a handful of guineas from the treasure mound behind him._

_He looked at her; admiring her beautiful features and her ample bosom before letting a few of those coins drop down between her exposed breasts. She looked down at them as the cold metal rested against her flesh before looking back up at him, both frightful of what he had in mind for her and curious as to what was in his head. _

"_This be part of yer share, Miss Turner," he happily told her. "Ye have no idea how happy I be to feel those coins against me fingertips, to feel the soft, velvety skin of yer body." He gently traced his ringed finger__along her face and neck before letting his hand drop to his side. His face was mere inches from hers as he spoke and his now hot breathe brushed against her skin, pushing back gentle locks of her golden-brown hair. "Fer ten years I've been wantin' to feel the warmth of a woman's flesh an' ye are so warm that ye have chased the chill of this bleedin' cavern from me. Fer that, I thank ye."_

_He took her back to the ship and discovered that there was another ship waiting nearby and sent for his crew. The battle that had ensued had been short and fierce as one more ship was added to the countless wrecks beneath the surface of Isle de Muerta's waters. He also learned from some of the crew that had stayed behind to guard the treasure that they had come across two interlopers prior to the battle. Those two interlopers had turned out to be, much to his surprise, Jack Sparrow and a young man claiming to be the real child of Bootstrap Bill. It did not take them long to travel to Black Sam's Spit and make Jack governor of the island once more as well as giving him his first citizen to rule over._

_Now they were three days out from Isle de Muerta with a hold full of swag en route for Tortuga. The crew were joyous and celebrating their return from the living dead with music, rum, and food all around. He was watching the spectacle from the steps of the stern castle next to his cabin door with his favorite piece of the swag sitting two steps below him at his feet, leaning on her knees by the elbows and trying not to enjoy the festivities the pirates partook in. Leaning forward and placing his gloved hand on her exposed shoulder, he reached around her with his other and offered her one of his precious green apples; an entire bushel that was now half-empty resting next to him with Jack perched on the rim of the basket eating away at a chewed core._

"_Apple, Miss Turner?" he offered pleasantly. _

"_Swann..." she said quietly and looked over to stare at the fruit. He stared at her in confusion, taken aback by what he thought was something completely random dribble from her until she began to explain to him. "My name isn't Turner, it is Swann."_

"_Swann ye say? As in Governor Swann of Port Royal?" She nodded in reply and he stared at her in further confusion. "Yer father ain't William Turner?" She shook her head, the confusion he had seen before returning to her porcelain features. "But then... how... 'tis impossible! Ye must be a Turner, there be no other way! Yer blood worked!"_

"_I do not know how it could have worked. It shouldn't have and yet... it did?"_

_He spent the next moment considering the possibilities of how the curse could be lifted and dismissed most of them outright. He could only conclude that Bootstrap had given his blood before he sent the mutinous bilge rat to the drink, but that would mean the man had to have known how to lift the curse and had said nothing to them, which only increased his anger towards the man. The only other conclusion he could draw to be that young man they had found with Jack had somehow given his blood. Either way, he only wished they had found the coin a lot sooner instead of waiting another eight years to finally lift the wretched curse. How it was possible or how long it took, he was not one to question the fates and thanked his good fortune._

"_Ah, no matter. What's done is done an' I ain't the type to look a gift horse in the mouth." He smiled softly down at her, the proffered apple still waiting at her shoulder. She looked up at him, uncertain as his eyes spoke to her to take it before she finally relented and apprehensively accepted the forbidden fruit from him. She took a careful bite from the green flesh and chewed the sweet fruit quietly. _

"_So yer name be Swann, eh?" he asked after a moment of silence between them had passed and two drunken pirates came galloping past, dancing to an ebullient jig currently being played by Jacoby upon the capstan. "I take it ye be the Governor's daughter?" She did not reply to his inquiry and before she realized it, he had her on her feet and facing him. "Ye lied to us... to me. Why?"_

"_Isn't it obvious?" she snapped at him and a couple pirates nearby stopped what they were doing to watch them, curiously. He glared at them to mind their own business and they went back to whatever it was they had been doing._

"_Ye thought I'd hold ye fer ransom? Perhaps I will, perhaps I won't. But perhaps I learnt me lesson about bein' too greedy an' be content with what I got now?" He grinned lasciviously at her and she realized his idea of what he had was not the treasure that his crew was swimming in right now. She protested as he took her by the arm with one hand and grabbed the rest of his apples with his other and led her inside his cabin, Jack leaping to his shoulder along the way. He let go of her while he locked the doors and immediately she moved away from him, the fear she had before suddenly resurfacing as her imagination ran rampant as to what he intended for her this evening._

"_Calm yerself, missy," he told her as he strode over to his table and set the bushel of apples atop it. The capuchin monkey leapt from his shoulder to its swing above the dark mahogany table, chirping cheerfully as he resumed eating one of the apple cores and watching them. "One way or another, tonight I will have ye in me bed an' it be more pleasurable to ye if ye just accepted that fact..."_

"_You haven't finished your apples," she interjected, stalling as she placed his table between them. "You said you would eat a whole bushel before you had me."_

"_Aye, that be true," he mirthlessly laughed. "Ten years I've gone without eaten an' me gut can only hold so many, missy. However, spendin' a few hours in bed with ye will work up an appetite fer the rest." With that he reached across the table and playfully grabbed at her. She leapt back from him with a girlish yelp and began to move in the opposite direction he moved and he briskly walked around the table to get at her. When he moved in the same direction, she moved in the opposite once more until he grew frustrated with her game and climbed over the table to her. _

"_Yaarrggh!" he growled as he dropped down in front of her and made to grab her again. She shoved his hands away and bolted across the cabin and he was quickly on her heels as she frantically looked for an avenue of escape by either an exit or a weapon. However, he had taken the precaution this time to remove any and all sharp objects that which she could use to stab him in the heart with. And this time, he would not be immortal to survive her rash thinking._

_He chased her to a support column and a sense of déjà vu came over him as they played cat and mouse around it. "Yaarrggh!" he growled and laughed at her fright, lunging at her once more before she fled for his cabin door. He followed after her at a steady walk and watched as she tried to fling the doors open and make her escape only to be halted by the unmoving handles. She spun around to face him as he reached her, producing an iron key on one finger tauntingly._

"_If ye wish to be spendin' the night with the crew," he told her and offered her the key to his cabin, "be me guest. But I assure ye right now, they won't be as kind to ye as I would be." He watched her as she stared at the key in his extended hand and when she did not take it from him, he tossed the thing behind him and heard it clatter somewhere on the floorboards. "Thought as much."_

"_Captain..." she weakly protested as he closed the distance between them until he stood almost on top of her. "I am a citizen of Port Royale and it is a pre-requisite for a young women to be married first before they partake in any carnal delights."_

"_I be a pirate, missy, don't need to follow yer city's rules of propriety." He firmly held her by the shoulders, his lips almost upon hers as he spoke, his beard tickling her chin as he breathed upon her luscious lips. The level of his voice dropped to a whisper as he continued to speak, "Besides, ye ain't ever goin' back there again as per our agreement. So who do ye need to impress with propriety?"_

"_I... oh..."_

"_Exactly." And he kissed her. It was not a rough kiss, as she would have expected from him, instead it was gentle and wanting for more but did not press for more unless she gave it to him. It was no surprise to him when he found her tentatively responding in kind to the tender kiss he gave her. She was a young woman coming of age and he knew they all held a secret desire for that which was denied to them by society until the time their hand was bound to another. She was no different and he knew exactly how to entice her desire for what he could give to the surface and have her want him to give it._

_He tasted her lips and found that they tasted sweet like apple and wine, a flavor he drank in with enthusiasm, biting down on her lower lip gently and drawing his tongue along them, asking for more from her. She obliged, her uncertainty disappearing with each passing second as he darted in with ten years worth of passion, dueling with her for dominance, feeling the shape of her mouth and burning it into his memory._

_She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands sliding up to the back of his head and tangling her fingers in his loose hair as they eagerly devoured each other, her other hand grabbing his hat and flinging it off to the side somewhere. His hands left her shoulders and traveled down her sides, one to rest on her curved waist and the other sliding around to the small of her back, drawing her body firmly against his and eliciting a soft moan from her as his eager groin pressed against her own._

_He broke away; almost desperate for air and almost wishing he did not have to breathe in order to endlessly kiss her. But he had to and he took that moment to catch his breath to gaze upon her with his crystal blue eyes and admire what he saw. Where before she had been a frightful young woman, afraid of what he might do to her should she refuse his request, now stood an inexperienced woman whose desire rose up from within, a simmering fire stroked into a burning blaze by a single passionate and fiery kiss._

"_Told ye this would be pleasurable fer ye if ye just accepted it," he whispered to her and before she could reply he closed his mouth over hers once more, sucking at her lip before moving on to other parts of her body. He tasted every part of her exposed flesh with tender gifts from his lips and tongue, and when he came upon the maroon dress that she wore, he felt affronted by it. He occupied his mouth with hers while his hands worked to untie the laces and rid her body of the offending article._

_They moved away from the cabin door, he guiding her footsteps toward his cabin bed as his hands pushed away the maroon dress from her body, caring not for it as it slid from her slim frame to puddle at her ankles. Their passionate kisses broke away to quick tender ones as he tried to get her out of the shift she wore and she pulling his coat off his shoulders to join the maroon dress. Her hands roamed along his baldric to his belt where he suddenly grabbed her wrist as her fingers played along the butt of his flintlock._

"_Now there be none of that, missy," he warned her and slipped his pistol out of his belt, tossing it aside and it slid beneath the table as it landed on the ebony floorboards. His baldric and sword joined the pistol and once both weapons were well out of reach of her grasp, he took her chin in his hand and looked at her. "Get rid of any thoughts of killin' me, girl. I be the only thing that's keepin' the crew from takin' ye an' I assure ye, they won't take too kindly to havin' their captain murdered in his sleep."_

"_Too kind," she quipped sarcastically and pulled him to her mouth again, much to his surprise. He drank her in as her hands roamed his body; trying to undo what cloths, he still had on him. He helped her pull him out of his belt and waistcoat, followed by his shirt and boots and he finally had her fully exposed to his eager lips and tongue, which he quickly partook in savoring every last inch of her. He forced her to walk into his bed and stared down at her sprawled body, letting his eyes roam over every supple curve and committing her lithe body to memory._

"_Will this hurt?" she asked him as he discarded his breeches and splayed his body next to hers and feeling her warm and smooth body with his hand. The gentleness that which he displayed as his hand traveled down the length of her body sent shivers through her and he smiled softly at feeling her tremble beneath his touch. _

"_I won't hurt ye," he said and she shook her head in reply. "Yer first?" She nodded and he grinned foolishly, like a boy who just discovered the greatest secret in the entire world. "Aye, it will at first, but I'll be gentle as best I can."_

"_This is not exactly how I pictured this," she admitted as he leaned over her to place the tip of her breast between his lips, enticing a sharp gasp of pleasure from her in the process. His ministrations upon her chest and body had her feeling euphoric and he took great pleasure from her hands exploring his shoulders and arms and down his back and sides. He had longed to feel the touch of a woman upon his body and the sensations were almost overwhelming. _

"_An' how did ye expect this to transpire?" He had risen from his attentions to look at her serene face, her eyes closed and a pleased grin upon her lips, a grin she was desperately trying to prevent from showing but he saw it anyway. _

"_Not like this... gentle and teasing. You are not being a pirate exactly." He laughed heartily at her words and moved above her so that now he looked down upon her, his knee persuading her legs to open for him so he could rest between her and his girth rested against her stomach._

"_An' do ye want me to be a pirate?" he asked her as his mouth consumed her neck beneath kisses and flicks of the tongue. _

"_I do not want you to hurt me..."_

"_Then I guess I cannot be all pirate-y, like ye fantasized about." He chuckled softly and resumed his ministrations upon her pert nipples. He heard her sigh in contentment and felt her squirm beneath the teasing touch of his ringed hand as it traced a line from her breasts, following the unseen line of her stomach, past her naval and resting amidst the curls between her thighs._

"_Surely you can still be one?" He thought he heard her begging him to be what she had always dreamed of experiencing. He raised his head to look at her and smiled slyly._

"_What did ye expect then?" He asked her._

"_I..." her hesitation was apparent. She had no idea what to expect from a pirate other than the stories that she no doubt had heard from others, especially from the officers of the Royal Navy. He grinned wickedly when she could not come up with an answer and he allowed his ringed finger to slip between the folds of her most sacred place, eliciting a gasp of surprise and elation at the effect his touch caused._

"_I could ravish ye," he suggested, his finger locating and rubbing the sensitive essence of her being, causing her to squirm beneath him. "Take ye to a point of bliss where ye will never wish to leave."_

"_Please..." she murmured between moans, her grip on his shoulder squeezing tighter as his hand drove her body closer to the edge. He could feel that she was slick from his attentions and slid his ringed finger into her inner sanctum and back out, teasing her nub along the way and listening to her groans of building ecstasy. He watched her close her eyes and her breath quicken with each entry of his finger until he was inside her up to his knuckle, ring and all. He did not pull back out immediately, but rather stayed there, deep as the length of his finger would allow and felt her inner flesh and grinned when she thrust her hips up against him, seeking more than what he was giving._

"_Or I could take ye like a tavern whore," he whispered into her ear. "Pound ye in so many ways I'll have ye beggin' fer more." He withdrew his hand and laughed at her disappointed and frustrated moan and her attempts to keep his hand in place by closing her thighs around it. "An' if ye are expectin' me to be rough, I can take ye that way, too, an' still make ye enjoy every bit of it."_

"_I do not care what you do, just don't stop!" she pleaded helplessly._

"_Do ye know what yer askin' fer?" He traced the contours of her face with the back of the hand he had been using. _

"_Yes... no." He laughed softly and gently rested atop of her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and legs, squeezing tightly and trying to convey to him what she wanted. She met his blue eyes with her doe-like brown ones and he could see her begging him to continue. He shook his head softly and smiled wickedly at her._

"_Not yet," he whispered against her lips as his lightly brushed against them. "I do owe ye fer that little white lie ye gave me."_

"_Lie?"_

"_I asked ye: 'Ye have a name, missy?' And ye said: 'Elizabeth... Turner. I'm a maid in the governor's household'," he mocked her speech perfectly; surprising her that he could speak properly. She mouthed an "oh" at him then stared while wondering what he would do to her for that deception. "I think I'll ravage ye first..." He pressed his lips against hers harshly, dueling with her for dominion over her mouth. He, of course, won through years of experience and it took the very breath from her._

_He ended the passionate kiss and explored every inch of her body with his lips, his tongue, and hands until there was not a single place left on her that was unknown to him. She squirmed and squealed when his journeying traveled over too sensitive of areas. She cried and begged for mercy when he mercilessly tickled her with his beard as his mouth ravaged her sides. He laughed heartily when she clung on to him in a desperate attempt to find a moment's peace to catch her breath but he quickly disentangled her from his body and pinned her down by the wrists while continuing to dole out his punishment._

_Moreover, when he felt that she had enough and her heat wafted up to him to warm his own cold flesh back to life, he deftly flipped her over onto her front side and pressed his body against hers, gently brushing away her golden locks from the nape of her neck. He pressed a tender kiss to her body and breathed in her passionate scent of a woman who had been tended to with carnal delights. Slowly and tenderly, he tasted the sweet and bitter sweat of her body as he followed a path down from her neck and along her spine, and reveling in the joy of being able to taste and feel once more. _

_He sat up between her legs and rested his hands on her hips and before he lifted her behind in the air, he said to her, "An' now... I take ye like a whore an' pound ye 'til yer cryin' like a cat in heat." She looked back at him expectantly, glowering at him and questioning him why he was even bothering in telling her this when she knew damn well that he wanted to take her right now. He beamed lasciviously at her and the mattress bounced as their bodies moved together, he guiding his erection into her waiting sex and within a few strokes, he was pressed up against her and felt like he had placed a tight fitting glove around himself._

_She had gasped and tensed up when he had first entered her while he moaned, closing his eyes at the blissful feeling of having a woman clinched tight around his organ. He suspected that if she had known what to do with him inside her, he would have spent himself just entering her hot and slick sheath. Once firmly inside, he did not move a muscle but took the moment to relax against her backside, savoring the sensations he had missed for the last ten years, before straightening and giving his first hard thrust in so long of a time._

_She groaned and breathed heavily, gripping the bed coverings and the pillow with her hands as he pounded into her like he would a seasoned Tortuga whore. The bed shuddered and creaked with each forceful thrust of his hips as he grinded them against hers. A chorus of thrilled gasps and moans, of intense breathing, a shriek of blissful joy as a desire rises to a climax and a feral growl emanating within the chest of a predator devouring its prey with lust filled passion, __and the excited howls of a monkey __crescendos throughout the candle-lit, dark cabin and drowning out the sounds of merry-making in their ears._

_It was all they knew, this union of man and woman in the most primeval of acts, and it was all they cared for and wanted from each other as they exhausted themselves upon pleasing the other until one or both of their needs were satisfied with contentment. Ten years is a long time to want, to placate the need of the most basic acts of human nature. So when he was finally able to satisfy that need after so long of not knowing it, the world exploded about him and he swore he felt tears of joy on his face as he madly laughed against her, spooned over her backside tiredly. As he rested against her, he knew that he would never feel such intense pleasure ever again unless he forced himself to wait another ten years._

_Perhaps to want for so long is not such a bad idea after all._

**A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that dream... I know Barbossa did. Heh.**


	8. Chapter 8

_Well... after uh a year or so I finally got back to this and wrote another chapter to it. _

_Also, I altered Chapter 7 a bit, mostly added a scene at the beginning to help break up the transition from Memory in Ch6 to Dream in Ch7. Before it was abrupt and may have caused confusion.  
_

* * *

**Strictly Dishonorable**

**Part Eight**

Barbossa awoke from his pleasant dream, bleary eyed and tired, with someone standing over him shaking his shoulder gently and calling his name softly. He groaned and then growled his frustration at having such a pleasurable dream interrupted by whoever it was that would dare interrupt in the first place for any reason. "This ship had better be sinkin' otherwise I may be inclined to hurt whoever ye are that just woke me up."

"Apologies, Captain Barbossa," he heard Elizabeth reply in annoyance. "But unless you wish to continue to sleep in water, be my guest, otherwise you can take advantage of the improved accommodations to our cell."

This caught his attention and he opened up his blue eyes, rubbing out the sleepiness with one hand and looked up at his cellmate. "Yer back?" he dumbly asked and berated himself for asking the obvious. Barbossa sat up straighter and pushed his back against the wall and took note of the new additions to their cell that hung from the walls behind Elizabeth. She stepped out of his way as he climbed to his feet and looked between them and her. "Now how'd ye manage this or did Tia Dalma visit while I was asleep?"

"I convinced Sao Feng to give them to us," she answered and climbed into her own hammock. She watched him as he inspected the other one, her eyes drifting from his hands as they firmly tugged against the knots, to the front of his breeches. She could not help but grin at what she saw there and wondered what exactly he had been dreaming about and made a mental note to ask him later. Satisfied that the hammock won't come down under his weight, Barbossa pulled his coat off and kicked off his boots before climbing in with a grunt.

"How long have ye been back?" he asked, pleased that he could finally get a decent night's sleep. But after that dream he doubted he would be able to this night. If there was one thing he disliked about those kinds of dreams is that they left you unsatisfied. He hated being unsatisfied. For ten years he had to suffer under that feeling and he had vowed to never feel that way ever again. Of course that was easier said than done, but at least he could now strive toward satisfaction and know that it was not beyond his reach by some damnable curse.

"Almost an hour," she replied and he rolled over and propped himself up on one elbow in his hammock to scowl at her.

"Ye've been here with these fer an hour an' yer just now wakin' me up?" There was no mistaking the displeasure in his tone of voice. Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest and returned his scowl with equal, if not more, anger than he was currently expressing.

"At least I did not leave you alone all night long with a sexually driven pirate who thinks I'm someone else without telling you exactly who you are suppose to pretend to be." His features softened slightly at her words and seemed to almost drift towards a guilty look before he quickly composed himself and hid his emotions by his usual, roguish and mean-spirited façade.

"Ye seem to have done well enough," he replied and laid back into his hammock once more, pulling his hat down over his eyes and the blanket around himself. "Ye got yerself a new set of cloths an' two hammocks fer the both of us."

"I should have left you to sleep in the water," she said snappishly and he heard the rustling of fabric and the creaking of the ties as she moved in her hammock.

"If it'll make ye feel better, I'll tell ye all about Calypso in the morn'?" he offered, wishing to go back to sleep and see if he could catch that dream again before it drifted too far from his memory. Though he began to question why he was eager to dream about her again after the way she was treating him. He figured it had more to do with the subject of the dream than the fact who was in it. Then again he has had similar dreams that were quite unpleasant because of who was in it. Upon remembering said dreams, a repulsive shiver traveled through him even as he tried to visualize a woman straddling his waist but couldn't no matter how hard he tried.

He grunted in displeasure and firmly believed now that he would never find that dream again and in its place were going to be vivid images of a certain kohl-eyed pirate. Barbossa was certain now that he wouldn't mind sending said pirate back from where they were going to fetch him from as soon as his usefulness wore out. At least he could take pleasure from imagining several ways to torture the man for that lewd remark he made to him twelve years ago, the very same remark that decided for him to mutiny and that also brought up those dreams in the first place.

Barbossa began to believe Elizabeth was satisfied with his answer because he had not heard from her for several minutes even while he was busy pondering on the misery Jack Sparrow always seemed to bring upon him whether among the living or not. That is, until she sat up in her hammock and he noticed out of the corner of his eye she was studying him intently.

"Somethin' amiss, missy?" he drawled sleepily, half expecting her to demand for him to explain about Calypso now. What she asked him instead, took him off guard.

"What were you dreaming before?"

"A dream."

"I know that." She sounded a little annoyed at his answer. Good. He was annoyed that she was prying into his business and his business alone. "But what of?" Barbossa stayed quiet and tried to pull his coat around him closer to block out both Elizabeth and the cold air in addition to the thin blanket he had, when his hand grabbed at his shirtsleeve. He lifted his head up and titled his hat back to look for his coat and found it hanging over one of the ropes that kept his hammock suspended. "It must have been pleasant..." Elizabeth added.

"Aye," he answered simply as he grabbed the coat, wrung out most of the water and tried to use it as a second blanket. He would have taken his soaked clothing off and slept with nothing on, but the air seemed to have gotten slightly cooler at night than normal and he was also in the presence of a woman he respected... _somewhat_.

"You're shivering, Barbossa," she stated upon noticing and he heard her climb out of the hammock and walk over to him. He opened one of his eyes to look up at her when she placed a hand on his arm.

"Of course I be. Tis what happens when ye sleep in wet cloths," he snapped and she glowered down at him like a mother who disapproved of her child's behavior. He glowered back up at her, rolling over so that he could face her and pulling his hat out of his face once more. She softened slightly at his next words. "Course ye could of gone an' got me a dry pair along with these hammocks."

"I tried," she said apologetically. "But Sao Feng wouldn't have it." She took his hat and held it between her hands while she looked down at him. "He doesn't like you."

"Don't like him either."

"I can see why," she said. She fidgeted with the feather on his hat and he was certain that if he let her continue to mess with it she'd ruin the thing. So he took it from her hands and sat up in his hammock under the belief that he was not going to get any sleep so long as she continued to pester him with questions. Seeing that she now had him listening to her, she continued. "He is repulsive and more lecherous than you are."

He could not help but laugh heartily at that. "Aye," he agreed after regaining control of himself. "I had warned ye he was much like meself, 'cept less merciful an' quite dishonorable." After a moment of silence had passed between them, he added; "Did he..." He couldn't finish the sentence but Elizabeth understood what he was asking and she shook her head in reply. She found it sweet that he would even consider asking. He saw what she was thinking and cleared his throat with a muffled "Arr!"

Elizabeth grinned softly. "I wouldn't let him. He wasn't terribly too pleased about it though."

"I imagine not," he chuckled a little and then wondered how long she could keep Sao Feng's intentions at bay. Hector suspected it would be only a matter of time before the Malaysian pirate forced himself on the girl, regardless of whether she was a goddess or not. He hated the fact even more, that he would not be able to help protect her when the man did finally try. He only hoped that the lessons he had given her in self-defense would be enough to help her, but even he knew it might not be. Sao Feng was an experienced pirate and Elizabeth just recently entered into their world.

Barbossa sighed softly after a moment when she did not speak again and started to lay back down to try and resume his sleep when she reached out to stop him. He gave her an inquisitive look and wondered what was in her head. He could see that she was indecisive about something and was hesitant in asking whatever it was that was on her mind. After a moment she seemed to have finally come to a decision and took a deep breath before letting it out and talking.

"Since you are in wet clothing and it will only make it less comfortable for you to get both the blanket and the hammock soaked, perhaps you should…" here she trailed off and gestured at him as if he should know what exactly she meant to say but hadn't said. Barbossa frowned a little when she finally found her voice again. "To let them dry out first, at least, anyway."

"What are yeh suggestin'?" he asked even though he had a very good idea and then said as much. "That I strip and sleep naked? I'll be even colder that way. Unless, of course, yer offerin' to keep me warm as well, missy?"

He saw her cheeks turn a rosy shade at his suggestion and then give him an indignant look for even considering such a thought with her. Barbossa would have liked her to keep him warm, but they both knew he would prefer it if she was also naked with him. However it was something he highly doubted that would happen any time soon or at all.

"I was merely suggesting that you remove some of your clothing to let them dry out before you catch your death in them," she replied in contempt before turning away to return to her hammock. "But if you insist on wearing them, by all means go and catch a cold. I'm certain I can manage in handling Sao Feng and his men alone once you've succumbed to the disease and died on me."

Barbossa snorted derisively and climbed out of the hammock with some difficulty. He was stiff from exhaustion and the cold, wet clothing clung to his skin. "My apologies, I meant no offense in me words, missy. Merely was tryin' to understand how yeh might think I'd be better off with nothin' on. The days are getting' colder an' I am not as young as I use to be. Either way, I'd be damned to the possibility of catchin' somethin' unhealthy. A warm body, however, can help stave off the cold an' if yer so inclined to oblige me, I can and _will_ behave with you."

He watched her back quietly as she considered his words. Several long seconds passed before she seemed to give in and nodded subtly at him. "Only if you behave, Captain, and you leave your breeches on at least."

He grinned lecherously at her and Elizabeth rolled her eyes in reply at his immaturity. "Aye, I suppose I could keep those on even though they're the most soaked article on my body."

Elizabeth sighed and gave in. "Oh alright. But if you so much as behave in an indecent manner with me, I won't hesitate to knock you out of the hammock and back into the water, Hector Barbossa."

He laughed a little in amusement and started to undress.


End file.
